Midseason TV: Second Semester Arrivals

Mandy C. and Emily are back with all of the important deets on the new faces coming soon to your TVs.

TV seasons aren’t what they used to be—with new shows only introduced in the fall. During the “midseason,” which ranges from the start of the new year into spring, networks have begun premiering new shows that might have been bumped from the fall schedule or weren’t quite up to the quality of the other fall series. Sometimes, these shows are total duds, but in other cases (*cough*Hannibal*cough*) midseason shows can be runaway hits.

Our job, as with our Fall TV series, is to help you decide if these new kids deserve to have space on your DVR, or if you’re better off with the lab partners you were assigned at the start of the year.

Rap Sheet: Based on the Argentine crime drama Mujeres Asesinas, Killer Women centers around Molly Parker, a former beauty queen and daughter of a sheriff, who has risen to the top of the ranks in the male-dominated Texas Rangers.

Emily—Bang. I'm all for more badass women being on TV. Since the days of Buffy, any woman that can beat the bad guy (or any guy) wearing a skirt and heels wins in my book. And, bonus, you get Marc Blucas. I'm just not sure the plot is enough to keep me hooked.

Mandy—Bang. As this show’s only eight episodes, I’m totally willing to give it a try. I’m all for a woman making waves in a male-dominated field, and I doubt many actors can play a “former beauty queen turned Texas Ranger” better than Ms. Helfer.

Rap Sheet: Gabriel Vaughn is a high-tech intelligence operative with a super-computer microchip in his brain. He’s also a take-no-prisoners, rules-are-made-to-be-broken kind of guy. Because the microchip is connected to the global information grid, Gabriel can use his brain to hack into any data center, which helps with his job of protecting the U.S. And because he’s a total loose cannon, he’s got a straightlaced handler, Riley Neal, who helps keep his tactics on the DL.

Mandy—Bang. This sounds an awful like a drama-ed-up version of Chuck, but I can’t help myself when it comes to spy/cop dramas. There are a lot of familiar faces in this show, too, which makes me think good thoughts.

Rap Sheet: Three brothers, all enlisted Army men, find themselves stationed at Fort McGee, a Florida military base. The two younger brothers, Derrick and Randy, are left behind at the base while most of the other soldiers are deployed overseas. Older brother Pete is sent back to base after punching a superior officer while in Afghanistan and is tasked with supervising a group of “misfits,” which, of course, includes both Derrick and Randy.

Emily—Marry. I hope this isn't cheating, but I've actually gotten to see four episodes of Enlisted, and I totally adore it. The three brothers are so freakin' adorable, and I'm all for a show where even though they might fight amongst themselves, they've always got each other's backs. The episodes I've seen have all given me a solid amount of laughs (and actually a few moving moment tears), and really, that's all I want in a husband. Doesn't hurt that cast is super easy on the eyes.

Mandy—Bang. Chris Lowell is adorable, y’all, and I want to give him a try as someone other than Piz, because we all know how that’s going to turn out. I also really enjoyed Geoff Stults’ wacky brand of humor in The Finder, and that was on Fox, too, so I hope there’s a little of that style in this new show.

Rap Sheet: A team of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists travel to a high-tech research facility in the Arctic to investigate a possible disease outbreak. There, they find themselves part of a terrifying situation—one that might hold the key to mankind’s salvation or its total annihilation.

Emily—Bang. There are a lot of intense shows on TV right now, and I'm not sure my brain (or my DVR) can handle another one. I also don't know how original a disease outbreak is. That being said, I really like the producers behind the show, and I think they do great things with characters, so I'm interested to see what they do here.

Mandy—Bang. Syfy has a made a name for itself with a history of questionable choices that turned out gold. I often like the channel’s original programming, but I’m not quite sure that the horror-ish feel of this show is one that I’m going to be able to watch on a regular basis. (Particularly late at night.) The basic idea of the show also seems a little overdone, but I’m willing to give it a try; I’m sure there’s some scifi twist to it that will break from the norm.

Rap Sheet: Criminal defense lawyer Keegan Deane is a delightfully dislikeable man. In Rake, a show based on an Australian show of the same name, Deane’s myriad of personal issues have created even more issues with the people in his life, including his ex-wife, judges presiding over the cases he’s working on, and his bookie. Hijinks, naturally, ensue.

Emily—Marry. I am a Greg Kinnear fan, and this looks to be him at his best. The trailer makes me cover my eyes and laugh at the same time. I also feel like Fox is on fire with comedies right now, and I will keep my loyalty there. This show just feels solid from all angles.

Mandy—Kill. This is totally not a show that I could see myself enjoying. I need someone to root for in my series, and a dislikeable main character is not appealing at all. I’m willing to check out the pilot, but if it’s as “not me” as I think it’s going to be, I’m going to have to say nay right away.

Rap Sheet: Ten years after a group of aliens land on earth and are forced to live in a internment camp, nine of the younger (hotter) aliens are integrated into a suburban high school. Soon, a romance blossoms between a human girl and one of the alien boys, which causes a lot of Romeo and Juliet-esque issues.

Emily—Bang. I'm a sucker for Romeo-Juliet cheesy goodness. They aren't supposed to be together, but they want to be together, and against all odds they'll fight to be together … at 16 years old! I just can't tell if the aliens have superpowers … that might make this a marriage. Plus, Julie Taylor! Need a I say more?

Mandy—Marry. I’ve been longing for another Roswell for nearly a decade now. Although I’m not sure that Star-Crossed is going to hit all the same marks, I’m hoping it will at least fill a bit of the hole. I’m also oddly excited that Grey Damon is in another CW series.

Rap Sheet: Mixology looks at six women and five men who meet one night at a bar. Each of the show’s 11 episodes will follow the meeting of two of the characters, and the season finale will be the culmination of all of the conversations at “the end of the night.”

Emily—Bang. I really like this trailer. Maybe that's because it reminds me a little too much of people I know (or situations I've been in). I'm interested to see how the concept works, with the entire season taking place in one night. I love movies that take place in 24 hours, so I'm willing to give it whirl.

Mandy—Bang. Here’s yet another show that’s not typically my style, but the idea of the entirety of the season (series?) taking place over the course of one night is intriguing. Plus: FITZ! How could I not give him my support?

Rap Sheet: What would you do if your dead loved ones started returning (and not as zombies)? In Resurrection (based on the novel The Returned by Jason Mott), the citizens of Arcadia, Missouri, are forced to live this situation when an eight-year-old boy who drowned 30 years earlier appears, unaged, in a field in China.

Emily—Bang. So, I just finished watching the first season of The Returned on Sundance Channel which was AMAZING, and this premise sounds a little too similar. Basically, I have my doubts about how this will measure up, but since I am obviously into the concept, I'm going to watch … tentatively.

Mandy—Kill. The slow tension build this show is sure to have both makes me yawn and makes me feel like this is yet another series that’s destined to be cancelled without a satisfactory ending.

Rap Sheet: Ninety-seven years post nuclear war that destroyed civilization as we know it, 100 juvenile delinquents who’ve grown up on a space station orbiting Earth are sent back to the planet in order to possibly repopulate the planet. (Based on the YA series of the same name by Kass Morgan.

Emily—Marry. I am totally into everything about this show. Juvenile delinquents being sent to a more well thought out Lost-type island, an almost unknown cast of young actors, and the mission of "saving their kind" that half are for and the other half are against. Plus, "they're not alone"! I'm sold.

Mandy—Marry. SUPER excited about this show. There are certain ideas that seem tailor-made for the CW treatment, and The 100 tops the list. I am definitely looking forward to learning about the various levels of delinquency these 100 kids have—because I’m sure there aren’t many who’ve done much more than slacking off in class; it is the CW, afterall—and seeing the drams that come with forcing teenagers to fend for themselves.

About the Author: Mandy is a small town girl living in a nerdy world, or—if you want to get literal—an editor/writer living in Austin, TX. In addition to yearning for YA books—the more dystopian or fantastical, the better—she can also be found swooning over superheroes, dreaming of The Doctor and grinning at GIFs.